It was already getting light after leaving the village. Chang Yu and his party walked south along the mountain road. They learned from the rich man Zhang that if you walk more than ten miles south in this valley, you can reach Longmen Ferry, which is the ferry where Mr. Zhang is. , just across the river.
Chang Yu's purpose was not Longmen Crossing. He took such a long detour just to avoid the thieves on the opposite side from going deep into the hinterland. However, it was still dark yet, so he could still take the main road. When daylight came, he would have to walk through the snow in the mountains and forests.
Wu Mushan and Wang Fuchen walked at the front, Chang Yu and Qing Yi walked at the end. The remaining people spread out in twos and threes and walked on both sides of the mountain road. The cold wind howled past, and everyone shrank their necks. No one spoke, only their feet were treading in the snow. The sound of suffering.
After walking for two or three miles, Qing Yi couldn't bear it anymore: "Shopkeeper, can I ask you something?"
"Ask," Chang Yu said casually.
"I heard that Zhang Xian said that Hejin County only had a few hundred troops stationed there, but Hancheng on the other side had more than a thousand thieves. Why didn't they send troops across the river to capture Hejin?"
Chang Yu smiled: "You are actually curious about this kind of thing, so I'll tell you. First of all, they don't attack. This has something to do with the strategic policy of the intruders. They focus on defense at this time, and attack is not for them." There is no meaning or benefit. Secondly, the ratio of defenders to siegeers ranges from one to five to one to ten. Three hundred people guard a small city, and the opponent has thousands of people. Even if they are all equipped, it is not so easy to win. Yes. The last and most important point is, it’s not necessary!”
Qing Yi nodded and said, "Why is it not necessary?"
"Because we may not be able to defeat the enemy even if we defeat the generals, what's the use of massacring the city? Massacre of the city will lose the hearts of the people. If he doesn't massacre the city, why would he occupy it? Then a large army of officers and soldiers will surround him, and he will have to run back..." Walking on the two sides Kuang Ren in front took over and said. Qing Yi looked at Chang Yu and when he nodded, he couldn't help but sigh: "I'm so stupid. You all know that I can't understand."
"Every line is like a mountain. We are soldiers. Our duty is to fight. The more we fight, the better we will understand. Even your scriptures and your skills can't be learned by us." Kuang Ren smiled and Qing Yi touched his head: "Brother Kuang It’s really comforting.”
"Qing Yi, you can really bear the pain of traveling over mountains and ridges in the bitter cold, which really surprises me." Chen Suole on the other side of the road also spoke to him, and Qing Yi smiled: "I already suffered like this when I came down the mountain. , In fact, it’s not bad, since he was born in poverty, it doesn’t mean anything.”
"Speaking of the crime of bitter cold, I suddenly remembered the words of the Ninth Young Master. Do you still remember that he said in Yunwu Temple that he fell in love with the life of sleeping in the open air?" Chen Suole's words made everyone couldn't help laughing, and Chang Yu also smiled bitterly and shook his head. : "What she did was called an outing at best. She had clothes on her back and stretched out her hands for food and opened her mouth. That's nothing like sleeping in the open. It's like what we are doing now. But if she can survive for an hour, it's considered great."
No, everyone nodded, and Chen Suole sighed: "The ones who can really endure hardship are plain and simple, but they are used to sleeping in the cold, hot, wind, and open air."
"Wuzhong is fine, too. When he traveled around the world, he lived in the wind and snow, and even competed with wild beasts for food." Chen Ruxin said with admiration. Chang Yu couldn't help but take a sip after hearing this: "Being pure is getting used to and enjoying that kind of life. That poor loser in Wuzhong was too down and out at that time..."
Everyone couldn't help but laugh secretly after hearing this, while Qing Yi murmured in his heart that the shopkeeper never said that Wuzhong was good. It seemed that he was really bullied by him. He must practice his skills and teach him a lesson...
At this moment, Wu Mushan, who was walking in front, suddenly sounded a warning and waved for everyone to hide in the bushes on the roadside. Everyone knew that he must have heard something due to his excellent hearing, so they hurriedly burrowed into the bushes on the roadside. Kuang Ren held a branch in his hand. Carefully smooth out the footprints, because it is already light at this time, and the traces left in the snow are easily visible.
"What's wrong?" As soon as Chang Yu and Qing Yi hid in the bushes on the roadside, Wang Fuchen ran over, "Wu Mushan heard the sound of horse hooves, and there were at least ten horses riding on it."
The sky was slightly bright and there were more than ten riders in the mountains. He could guess who they were with his toes. This made Chang Yu wary. The thieves were really on guard. In less than a few hours, someone had just taken away the enemy's den. They came to investigate, and they were cavalry. If there were only a few of them, they could fight, but if there were more than ten or dozens of people, even if they had to pay a price, Chang Yu would not do this kind of business.
Although he likes to fight, the purpose of this trip is not just to fight.
"Shopkeeper, didn't you say that those who escaped might not report the news, and even if they reported the news, they might not come so quickly?" Qing Yi asked from beside him, and Chang Yu's face heated up: "I didn't expect the thieves to be so strict."
As he was talking, he could hear the sound of horse hooves in the distance. Chang Yu squinted and looked south. He saw more than ten horses galloping on the gray mountain road. In the blink of an eye, they were in front of him and passed by like the wind. When they were gone, everyone gathered around. When they came over, Kuang Ren said: "They will definitely come after us in less than half an hour. We can't walk on this road."
Chang Yu looked up and looked at the gray sky. It would be bright in less than half an hour, and the mountains and fields all around were white: "Climb the mountain!"
You can imagine the pain of walking over mountains and woods in the snow. At noon, when a group of people climbed up a hill, they looked around and took a long breath. Due east, the Yellow River was at their feet, and they could see Hejin County on the other side. They can also see Longmen Village, which is right at their feet. The straight-line distance is only a few miles, and people can be vaguely seen walking around in the village.
"There are many villages in this area," Kuang Ren muttered. There were at least a dozen villages densely packed along the bank of the Yellow River near the ferry, many more than on the other bank.
"That should be Hancheng County." Wang Fuchen pointed to the southwest, and he could vaguely see a small town standing beside the Yellow River at the foot of the mountain. Chang Yu took out his telescope and looked at it for a while before putting it down. "Are we going down?" Wu Mushan asked, and then everyone looked at him like a fool: Wang Fuchen couldn't help but cursed, "Go down to find death. Why do we go to such trouble to take such a detour?"
"The thieves have set up a dragnet along the Yellow River at the foot of the mountain. Do you think there will be their secret sentry on the top of the mountain?" Qing Yi asked, and everyone couldn't help but tense up: "Of course there is, so we have to be more careful." Chang Yu looked around After a while, he saw a cliff with thick trees to the west, so he said: "Go there for a rest, and then go southwest. Let's enter the country from Heyang County."
Everyone nodded and cautiously headed down the cliff. They were particularly cautious because they were worried that there would be a hidden stake on the mountain. When they saw that they were still more than 20 meters away from the forest under the cliff, a guard suddenly issued a warning. With the gesture, everyone hurriedly hid their figures, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Soon Chen Ruxin touched Chang Yu's side: "I found hidden footprints ahead, leading directly to the forest."
"Could it be traces of wild beasts?" Chang Yu asked. Chen Ruxin shook his head: "They were just swept away with branches after walking by."
Needless to say, there must be someone in the forest, but the identity is a mystery. If it is a hidden stake for the thieves, they should not be hiding in the forest, so they are still monitoring someone. Could it be that the officers and soldiers are not hiding at night? It's impossible. According to Zhang Xian, the spies of the officers and soldiers can't get through at all now, so how could they be hiding under the noses of the officers and soldiers.
"In order to avoid alerting the enemy, let's go around." Kuang Ren and others suggested going around, but Chang Yu always felt that it shouldn't be a hidden stake for the bandit army: "Qingyi, keep your steps as light as possible and take a look, Kuang Ren, take cover." , Ma Yaozi, Wu Mushan, you two go around from both sides, Lao Lu, you are on guard outside."
The few people obeyed the order. Qing Yi took off his cotton robe, took the long sword and moved toward the bushes lightly.
